Spain’s royals visit Macael (Almeria) to present marble sector’s top awards

SPAIN’S king, Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited Macael on November 11 to present the Premios Macael awards for 2022.

As Don Felipe pointed out, “For me, this is the first time,” before adding, “but not for her,” referring to 2002 when the then Letizia Ortiz, a TVE television announcer, presented the awards ceremony.

The regional president, Juanma Moreno, Industry minister Reyes Maroto and the central government’s delegate to Andalucia, Pedro Fernande, were amongst the 650 people present for the gala, considered the national marble sector’s most important promotional event.

The King emphasised the challenges that the marble industry has had to face. “For instance, the irruption of the pandemic, Brexit, the Ukraine invasion or energy prices, a phenomenon which, as we well know, has brought levels of inflation unheard of for decades,” Don Felipe said.

Despite these problems, the King referred to the marble industry’s capacity for response which, he stressed, had been key to adapting to the new scenario.

“In 2021, Spain was the world’s seventh largest natural stone producer and the sixth most important exporter,” Don Felipe pointed out.

Andalucia had the largest number of marble companies, of which almost 90 per cent were located in four municipalities, with Macael accounting for practically half of the total, he added.

The King also expressed optimism: “The natural stone and marble sector have an extraordinary future, especially for the areas where they carry out their activities,” he said.

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